He has a lot of practice showing fans a good time while
ringing in a new year.

"I have been in show business 55 years," Blavat relates.
"And every year I have had a New Year's Eve party at a venue." Whether in New
Jersey or down the Shore or in Atlantic City, Blavat has had plenty of company
when he flips the calendar at midnight.

Blavat, whose musical roots in the Philadelphia area go
deep, was a TV dance-show host and popular DJ, referring to his fans as "yon
teenagers" and finding success in playlist after playlist of now-classic rock
and roll, R&B and soulful ballads.

"The wonderful thing that I enjoy is the fact that those
kids who I used to call ‘yon teenagers' back in the day, they are still with me
today. I call them ‘beyond-yon
teenagers.' But it's so wonderful because they come, they dance, they enjoy,"
he says.

Blavat may be in his 70s, but his voice still reflects a
youthful energy, and it's easy to imagine his patter still coming out of an AM
radio on a beach blanket. He clearly treasures his role in growing up with rock
and roll and introducing its innovations to a generation that, to this day,
appreciates them.

"I've always said: We can't live in the past. But it's a
wonderful thing when I can take you back and visit it for a couple of hours.
Three, four, five hours. And dance and go back to a better time in America. And
that's why these things that I do - especially the New Year's party - are so
important for the audience. Because who else is doing what I do?"

Blavat's original fans may be graying at the temples a
little, but his appeal with a younger demographic is undeniable. "Young people
hear ‘Runaround Sue' or ‘At the Hop' or ‘The Twist,' and if they're hearing it
for the first time, the effect is the same as when I first played it for the
yon teenagers. It was new then. It was different then. But young people love it
because they're hearing it many times for the first time. It's new and
different all over again. The appeal is universal because it's music.

"My philosophy has been this," he continues. "I've been
asked, What do you think of the music today? Well, I don't think too much of it
because of one thing. Music has to have a melody; it has to have a lyric; it
has to have a rhythm to it where you can dance to it. I mean, if there is no
lyric, if there is no story line, if there is no melody, if there is no beat,
it's not music, it's just repetition."

Blavat says that the classic music of the 1950s and 1960s
resonates today because of its meaning. He rattles off a few stellar examples:
"I Only Have Eyes for You," "That's My Desire" and "Where or When," whose lyric
he croons slowly to make the point: "It seems we stood and talked like this
before..."

He says that the words' power came from their ability to
speak for listeners who were often
too tongue-tied to make their affections known for themselves.

The pause in the conversation's tempo is brief, and Blavat
returns to the topic of his New Year's celebration 2015. "As soon as I get
onstage, there will be dancing!"

Blavat is a regular at the Valley Forge Casino Resort. The
destination in King of Prussia has clearly become dear to him. "It has been an
outward casino since casinos opened up," he says. "I've worked [other casino
venues in the area], but the Valley Forge Casino is almost like family. It is
beautiful; the people are friendly. It is a different clientele than I've seen
at these other casinos. It's almost like a boutique casino...

"...but not on New Year's Eve. Then, we're packed!"

The party invites revelers to Paint the Town Red for 2015.
Performers include not only Blavat but also Low-Cut
Connie, a group adept in both oldies and new material, in the of the
greats: Jerry Lee Lewis, Little Richard, Fats Domino, Bo Diddley, Brenda Lee
and so on. The ticket price ($132.65) includes surf-and-turf dinner, cocktails,
favors, entertainment and dancing, and purchasers must be 21 or over. Doors open
at 8:45 p.m. Tickets are going fast; get them here.

New Year's Eve in Montgomery County is a hopping night. If
Blavat's invitation to his party doesn't strike your fancy, there are plenty of
other options listed on our website.

As
2014 draws to the close, we at the Valley Forge Tourism & Convention Board wish
you a happy 2015.

Author: Dan Weckerly - VFTCB Communications Manager

Dan Weckerly, VFTCB Communications Manager, has lived in Montgomery
County since 1988 but is still discovering its many treasures, which
provides the basis for The Pursuit. He is well-traveled across
the U.S. and even lived in London, but more commonly shares his
household with a wife of more than 25 years, three daughters and a boisterous
Labrador Retriever.